subversive

[ suhb-vur-siv ]

/ səbˈvɜr sɪv /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR subversive ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective

Also sub·ver·sion·ar·y

[suhb-vur-zhuh-ner-ee, -shuh-] /səbˈvɜr ʒəˌnɛr i, -ʃə-/. tending or intending to subvert or overthrow, destroy, or undermine an established or existing system, especially a legally constituted government or a set of beliefs.

noun

a person who adopts subversive principles or policies.

Nearby words

suburbicarian, subvaginal, subvene, subvention, subversion, subversive, subvert, subviral, subvirus, subvisible, subvocal

Origin of subversive

1635–45; < Latin subvers(us) (past participle of subvertere to subvert) + -ive

SYNONYMS FOR subversive

1 traitorous, treacherous, seditious, destructive.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR subversive ON THESAURUS.COM

Related forms

sub·ver·sive·ly, adverbsub·ver·siv·ism, sub·ver·sive·ness, nouncoun·ter·sub·ver·sive, nounnon·sub·ver·sive, adjective

non·sub·ver·sive·ly, adverbnon·sub·ver·sive·ness, nounself-sub·ver·sive, adjectiveun·sub·ver·sive, adjectiveun·sub·ver·sive·ly, adverbun·sub·ver·sive·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for subversive

Submission is less a novel of ideas than a political book, and of the most subversive kind.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President|Pierre Assouline|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Miller traces his irreverent and subversive streak to a psychedelic experience during the particularly sweltering summer of 1991.
DJ Spooky Wants You To Question Everything You Know About Music, Technology, and Philosophy|Oliver Jones|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Of course, you can read this just as a brilliant, subversive coda to a horror movie.
Grief: The Real Monster in The Babadook|Tim Teeman|December 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Hipgnosis were at their most subversive when taking photos of the band.
The Golden Age of Rock Album Covers|Ted Gioia|December 5, 2014|DAILY BEAST

These subversive narratives were not the solution I sought to the dissonance between my expected and actual college experience.
Freshman Year Sucks—and That’s OK|Eleanor Hyun|November 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
He never said any subversive things or tried to take any classified information that I know of out or see anybody about it.
Warren Commission (8 of 26): Hearings Vol. VIII (of 15)|The President's Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy
I look upon it as a dangerous doctrine, subversive of the great end for which the United States have confederated.
Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. I (of 16)|Thomas Hart Benton
Russian policy, subversive under Catharine, was in a European sense conservative under Alexander.
William Pitt and the Great War|John Holland Rose
Mutual service and slavery—like light and darkness, life and death—are directly opposed to, and subversive of, each other.
The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Omnibus|American Anti-Slavery Society
Such a right is opposed to the acts of Congress on the subject of naturalization, and subversive of the Federal powers.
Report of the Decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, and the Opinions of the Judges Thereof, in the Case of Dred Scott versus John F.A. Sandford|Benjamin C. Howard

British Dictionary definitions for subversive

subversive

/ (səbˈvɜːsɪv) /

adjective

liable to subvert or overthrow a government, legally constituted institution, etc

noun

a person engaged in subversive activities, etc

Derived Forms

subversively, adverbsubversiveness, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

subversive

adjective

noun

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RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of subversive

SYNONYMS FOR subversive

Related forms

Examples from the Web for subversive

British Dictionary definitions for subversive

subversive

adjective

noun

Derived Forms